By popular demand I've tested these three popular WUXGA (16:10 1920 x 1200) monitors for use with the MiSTer.
Methodology/disclaimer
Calibrated by eye or I used matched settings if it made sense. Since the "best" settings on a display depend on your settings in the core (such as gamma curve) I will divulge my video processing settings first:
Video processing in MiSTer
Gaussian sharpness of 55 to 65, depending on the core resolution and look. 60 by default.
Adaptive scanlines (SLA_Dk) between 70 and 90 out of 80 to 100, depending on the look and brightness
CRT Simulation gamma for punch and warmth, or an appropriate pure or poly gamma if CRT Simulation causes clipping or washing out in either direction, such as with 1943 (typically clipping in the skies) or RoboCop (too dark, shadow details missing)
Shadow mask: 1x Sony Trinitron (1968), MegaAGS or Mr. RePlay Commodore 1084 Philips preset
The above is based on my CRT monitors or CRT TVs (currently 7 x Phillips and 2 x Sony, but one or two dies every year) and my personal taste.
Other settings in MiSTer
Calculated modeline of 1920 x 1200, 60 Hz baseline
Integer scaling (1)
Vertical sync adjust to fastest (2)
Refresh min & max to match the tested screen, e.g. 48-75 Hz
NTSC & PAL modes: 1920, 1200, 60 and 1920, 1200, 50
VRR enabled, first on auto, then each type forced for testing
VRR mix/max set to match screen
VRR baseline set to match the video mode
HDR activated with max/typical nits to match the tested screen
HDMI gaming mode: On (no difference with these displays)
PA248CRV settings
Preset: User 1
Brightness: 100
Contrast: 90
Saturation: 50
Hue: 50
Color Temp: 5500K
RGB Tuning: 50/50/50
Black Level: 50
Sharpness: 0
Trace Free: 20
Aspect Control: Dot to Dot
Input Range: Auto
Blue Light Filter: Min
Media sync: Off (also tested on)
PA248QV settings
Preset: User Mode 1
Blue Light Filter: Level 0
Brightness: 100
Contrast: 90
Saturation: 50
Hue: 50
Color Temp: 5500K
Gamma: 2.2
Black Level: 50
Sharpness: 0
Trace Free: 40
Aspect Control: Full (see later)
Input Range: Auto
VividPixel: 0
Adaptive Sync: On
Eizo 2456 settings
Preset: User1
Auto EcoView: Off
EcoView Optimizer 2: Off
Brightness: 100%
Picture Expansion: Aspect Ratio
Sharpness: 0
Input Range: Auto
Color Mode: User1
Brightness: 100
Contrast: 85
Temperature: 5000 K
Gamma: 2.2
Overdrive: Standard
Hue: 0
Saturation: 5
Gain (R): 100
Gain (G): 96
Gain (B): 80
DESIGN
PA248CRV - 6/10
Slim screen with a small and nice foot. Cable management is the classic hole in the middle design, fine for horizontal use, but the cables tend to bulge out annoyingly when it's pivoted to vertical position. Unintentional tilting happens easily when you pivot. The screen has forward-facing controls on the bottom of the bevel leading to an asymmetric look when pivoted in vertical position. How distracting this is a matter of taste.
PA248QV - 5/10
Slim screen with a slightly larger and rough looking foot. Again the cable management is the bad hole in the middle solution and unintentional tilting can happen as well. Again forward-facing controls on an asymmetric bevel, which might be distracting to some with vertical pivoting.
Eizo 2456 - 9/10
Medium slim screen with a very thin white or black bevel (depending on the color of the model), with hidden controls on the bottom of the bevel. This means there's less asymmetry when pivoted. Also cable management is on the back of the stand, which means it can be completely or nearly hidden even when rotated. The stand is a bit bulky, but there's no unintentional tilting.
BRIGHTNESS
PA248CRV - 9/10
Rated at 350 cd/m2 it's certainly more than bright enough.
PA248QV - 8/10
A slightly lower 300 cd/m2, however the difference is very small in real life.
Eizo 2456 - 10/10
Rated similarly to the PA248CRV at 350 cd/m2, but it seems slightly more punchy.
CONTRAST
PA248CRV - 9/10
Great contrast as expected. Notice that the setting of 90 used for both the CRV and QV is on the high side, but works with MiSTer. A setting of 80 is better for desktop work.
PA248QV - 9/10
Seems identical to the CRV.
Eizo 2456 - 8/10
Marginally worse contrast and black level than the two other screens, but still good.
LIGHT UNIFORMITY
PA248CRV - 9/10
For an IPS display it's got top notch light uniformity.
PA248QV - 8/10
Nearly as good as the PA248CRV, great for an IPS.
Eizo 2456 - 6/10
Some vignetting in the corners.
HDR
PA248CRV - 0/10
Though this screen officially has HDR, and I've tested it works with my Macs, I was unable to activate it with the MiSTer. If anyone has proof this can work with the CRV then please let me know in details. I've tested both HLG and DCI P3 HDR modes on the MiSTer, both of which are available to the CRV.
PA248QV - 0/10
HDR not available on this screen.
Eizo 2456 - 0/10
HDR not available on this screen.
GAMMA
PA248CRV - 10/10
Inexplicably, manual gamma is bypassed with this screen in the User mode, though it is available in other modes. Instead it defaults to (a perfect) 2.2 with the MiSTer, which is the default setting in the PA248QV as well. So in practice it works fine with the MiSTer. It looks like the CRV auto-detects and changes gamma when the display is connected to a Mac.
PA248QV - 10/10
Available to tweak, defaults to 2.2.
Eizo 2456 - 10/10
Available to tweak, defaults to 2.2.
VIEWING ANGLE
All three screens are rated for 178 degrees and I see no noticeable differences. Very wide viewing angles on all three. 10/10.
COLORS
PA248CRV - 10/10
Vibrant colors and more tweaking possibilities.
PA248QV - 9/10
Great colors, nearly indiscernible from the CRV.
Eizo 2456 - 9/10
Very good colors once tweaked.
SHARPNESS
PA248CRV - 10/10
The best non-Retina display I've tested in terms of sharpness.
PA248QV - 8/10
Not bad, but not nearly as sharp as the CRV.
Eizo 2456 - 8/10
Very good.
MOVEMENT
A word on overdrive/Trace Free
Overdrive in a screen can reduce potential ghosting or trailing of moving objects. However, with higher overdrive settings overshoots will happen which result in a so-called corona effects, which can be even more annoying than ghosting. Trace Free is simply the name of Asus' overdrive technology for this purpose.
PA248CRV - 7/10
The default Trace Free setting of 60 causes obvious overshoots. A good test is the arcade game Pang where a red ball bounces around on a blue background. Reducing Trace Free to 20 reduces coronas to a minimum while still being in overdrive. Activating MediaSync disables Trace Free completely, which means you can't have both features at the same time on the CRV.
PA248QV - 9/10
Trace Free seems to work better with the QV where it's possible to set it to 40 before coronas become annoyingly visible, although I would consider keeping it at 20. If this is not a display production inconsistency or change in panel offset values between upgrades it could mean that the QV has slightly better/faster movement than the CRV.
Eizo 2456 - 9/10
Standard Overdrive looks great with no visible coronas, while Enhanced Overdrive has clear coronas.
SCROLLING
PA248CRV - 9/10
Buttersmooth scrolling of backgrounds and no blurring with both TATE, C64 and Amiga horz and vert.
PA248QV - 9/10
Buttersmooth scrolling of backgrounds and no blurring with both TATE, C64 and Amiga horz and vert.
Eizo 2456 - 9/10
Buttersmooth scrolling of backgrounds and no blurring with both TATE, C64 and Amiga horz and vert.
RESPONSE TIME - 8/10
Grey to grey response time is 5 ms or less with all three screens, and I can't notice any difference in response time between the three displays.
VERTICAL REFRESH RATE
PA248CRV - 8/10
48 to 75 Hz, which means it will run almost all cores and games, except very few such as WonderSwan (which will have to run in 60 Hz compatibility mode)
PA248QV - 8/10
Same as the CRV.
Eizo 2456 - 7/10
49 to 61 Hz, which means it will still run almost all cores and games, except very few such as WonderSwan (which will have to run in 60 Hz compatibility mode) - technically less compatible on paper, hence the lower grade.
VARIABLE REFRESH RATE (VRR)
PA248CRV - 0/10
Has VRR in the form of VESA MediaSync, which focuses on reducing jitter and flicker with broadcast standards and not high framerates. Not particularly useful with the MiSTer, even if it worked. MediaSync was only available once I switched from HDMI to a USB-powered HDMI > DisplayPort cable. Activating MediaSync deactivates Trace Free (overdrive). I can detect no difference with MediaSync activated other than Trace Free being disabled, so I can't tell if it actually works or not.
PA248QV - 0/10
Has VRR in the form of "Adaptive-Sync" [sic]. Adaptive Sync was only available once I switched to the HDMI>DisplayPort adapter, but I can see no difference with VRR activated in any core, regardless of the selected type of VRR in MiSTer. If anyone has definite proof that this can work with the QV, I'd like to hear from you in details - or perhaps it's working, but I'm not seeing any difference.
Eizo 2456 - 0/10
No VRR available.
ASPECT RATIO SETTINGS
PA248CRV - 10/10
Full, Dot To Dot or 1:1 settings all work as expected over HDMI and DisplayPort.
PA248QV - 8/10
Full, Overscan or 4:3 with no available Dot To Dot setting. Oddly, "Full" works fine (like Dot To Dot) and does not scale the picture. DisplayPort locks Aspect Ratio options to default, unlike HDMI.
Eizo 2456 - 10/10
Full, Dot By Dot or Aspect Ratio settings all work as expected.
JAILBAR TEST 10/10
Using native resolution and first a full-screen orange background then a cyan one (supposedly the two colors best at provoking this artifact), I looked for a lack of display uniformity in the shape of faint jailbars. I measured first at 60 then at 75 Hz, since frequency supposedly can play a part in this artifact.
Using non-native resolutions and non-integer scaling with scanlines and/or shadow masks can cause a similar looking problem, but that's not related to the quality of the display per se.
All three displays have no faint jailbars, although it could still happen with any screen if it's a production tolerance issue. If there are any jailbars they're not visible to my eyes at either frequency with these particular specimens.
STABILITY
PA248CRV - 10/10
Tested for about a year without any hiccups.
PA248QV - 6/10
Worryingly the QV started displaying a thick flickering line across the screen after I re-plugged a cable an hour into the test. It could be related to all the HDMI/USB-powered DisplayPort cable switching and messing around with settings. It would not go away even after hard turning the screen on and off. I factory reset the screen and power-cycled it by pulling the cord entirely, which made the error go away.
EDIT: Happened again later today. Looks like a dud - I'll return it for a replacement. Any other with experiences like this with the QV or just a one-off?
Eizo 2456 - 10/10
Used for 3,400+ hours without any problems.
CONCLUSION
Since the CRV is pricier and doesn't seem to have any major advantages over the cheaper QV for use with the MiSTer (despite the nominally higher brightness) the QV still seems like the best buy. If VRR (eventually) works with the MiSTer and the QV, then this could make the QV the better choice for that reason alone perhaps. As a work/office screen the CRV is superior to the QV.
The Eizo 2456 is not only the most expensive of the bunch, but it is slightly worse in some areas, especially in light uniformity. However, the overall great performance combined with superior ergonomics and look of the screen mean it's not a clear cut choice for me personally in my setup. I'll keep all three screens and probably switch them around or use them for different purposes over time, until I settle with one.
For the sake of completion I also tested a 16:9 screen, the AOC Gaming G2790VXA 27" AMD FreeSync Premium VA 1ms 144Hz screen, but the aspect ratio and lesser picture quality is a non-starter for me.